Donald Trump holds up an executive order after signing it during a meeting with U.S. Ambassadors in the Cabinet Room of the White House, March 25.
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Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday targeting Jenner & Block, the law firm challenging his anti-transgender policies in court. The order suspends the security clearances, government contracts, and access to government buildings and employees in an official capacity pending a review to ensure the firm’s policies do not threaten the county’s national security interests and align with his policies and executive orders.
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The order, titled Addressing Risks From Jenner & Block, directs all government agencies to “immediately take steps consistent with applicable law to suspend any active security clearances held by individuals at Jenner pending a review of whether such clearances are consistent with the national interest.”
The order says Jenner “engages in obvious partisan representations to achieve political ends, supports attacks against women and children based on a refusal to accept the biological reality of sex,” and supports the influx of migrants to the U.S.
Trump’s order also cites Jenner’s former employment of former federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann as a reason for the order. Weissmann served as the lead prosecutor during Robert Mueller’s investigation of Trump during his first administration. He is a commentator on MSNBC.
Jenner & Block lawyers are working with the American Civil Liberties Union to challenge Trump’s executive order titled Protecting Children From Chemical and Surgical Mutilation, which eliminates federal funding for hospitals that provide gender-affirming care to minors.
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The ACLU accused Trump of conducting a “fear campaign” against the law firm and said it was part of a larger campaign targeting the basic principles of the country.
“Today, President Trump issued his sixth directive in four weeks targeting law firms and individual lawyers for sanctions, because they have represented clients or brought litigation Trump dislikes, or he perceives them to be political enemies,” Cecillia Wang, the ACLU’s national legal director, said in a statement. “This is part of a larger effort to knock out the pillars of a free society – journalists, universities, the legal profession, and the courts.”
Jenner & Block suggested the order was unconstitutional and vowed to remain focused on its clients.
"Jenner & Block has had a long history representing clients, paid and pro bono, in their most difficult matters since 1914," the firm said in a statement issued to the media. "Today, we have been named in an executive order similar to one which has already been declared unconstitutional by a federal court. We remain focused on serving and safeguarding our clients’ interests with the dedication, integrity, and expertise that has defined our firm for more than 100 years and will pursue all appropriate remedies.”
Trump has used the loss of security clearance, federal funding, and access to government employees to ensure compliance with previous executive orders or to target past political adversaries. The state of Maine and multiple universities have complied with the President’s order threatening the loss of federal funding if they did not comply with the order targeting transgender student-athletes participating in sports aligned with their gender. Trump recently revoked the security clearances of former Secretaries of State Hillary Clinton and Antony Blinken, prosecutors Letitia James and Alvin Bragg, former Vice President Kamala Harris, and former U.S. Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger. Some fear Trump revoked their clearances because his administration is investigating those individuals for eventual prosecution.
Wang decried the president’s actions, describing them as “despotic” in her statement.
“Not long ago, no American would have entertained the notion that a U.S. president would issue fiats, left and right, to quell disfavored viewpoints,” Wang said in the statement. “This is despotic, unpresidential behavior.”
Despite the order, Wang said the ACLU will continue to fight for its clients.
“We will continue to provide zealous and ethical representation to our clients, and we will speak our minds.”
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